Beginners drum theory - where to begin?

Elektron Gear Analog Rytm
#1

I’m wondering where would be the best place to start to learn some general info about drum pattern programming. By the way wouldn’t that just be called “drum theory”? As in “music theory”.

I assume that drum theory, as with general music theory, is a vast and endless ocean, and one can probably spend a lifetime deep diving there. But I assume that for drums it can also be said that one only has to focus on specific subsections of the theory to be “good enough” for most types of dance music.

So up until now, I’m mostly been working with four-to-the-floor beats for techno, minimal techno, dub techno, and similar styles. I would both want to gain a deeper understanding of how to develop the perfect techno beat. But I’m also highly interested in starting to incorporate more breakbeats into my tracks and more complex rhythms.

I took two online classes from the Underdog electronic music school called “Foundations of Electronic Music” and " Hypnotic industrial techno start-to-finish" (found here https://courses.underdog.brussels/) and got some really good foundation material from there I’d say, but not much about breakbeat rhythms.

So I’m open to any hints and tips on where to start. Any good threads here on this forum? Books to read? Masterclasses to watch? Online seminars to take?

Btw I have a few Elektron machines, AK, A4mk2, ARmk2, DN. Maybe there are some nice projects available online for reverse engineering? :slight_smile:

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#2

I don’t know anything in music theory and never took the time to learn.
But if I have one tips to share that worked for me is to sample 4 bar of a music you love, and try to stack the same drums on it with your favorite drum machine.
You will discover some micro timing, some hidden percs coming just before the kick or the snare, etc… The more you will practice to reproduce things, the more you will learn to make your own.

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#3

This 100%. Study the music you like listening to; listen closely to what they’re doing rhythmically and try to replicate that. I’d argue that this method is indeed learning and applying music theory, but that discussion is for another thread :stuck_out_tongue:

Electronic musicians who can also play drums are good to study. The only example I can think of at the moment is Squarepusher; probably a bit complex to study if you’re just starting out but he has a lot of great rhythmic techniques in his drum programming that you might benefit from learning.

Euclidean rhythms are also worth looking into, as they form the basis of many good percussive patterns, especially in techno.

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#4

Totally agree with the recommendations to study and recreate rhythms from music that moves you. The cool thing there is that you can mangle those recreations to make them more your own and those patterns can serve as launching points for new material.

Also, it isn’t just about the raw patterns, but all the additional little nuances, like for certain types of house, swinging the high-hats, or the more general trick of pushing the claps/snares ahead with micro-timing to both add urgency and open up space for the kick onset, or integrating moving syncopated bouncy bass lines that complement the drums to liven things up even further.

These may be already in your toolbag, but I find it’s often these little subtleties that make a good groove great.

AFAIK, there isn’t any one comprehensive resource for modern dance/electronic music drum sequencing, but if someone knows of one and it’s really good, I’d be interested too.

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#5

I’m pretty much at the same point. I found this interesting, but haven’t applied it yet. There’s a chance you already know this from the courses you’ve done, apologies if so.

Watching this thread with interest.

#6

I can also recommend the “Drum Programming Handbook” by Justin Paterson, although this is more about rhythm in general and emulating a real drumset, and less so about techno specifically. Good book though, covers a lot of ground.

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#7

I’d also seriously consider getting a few drum lessons on a kit, to get a feel for how the mechanics of a drum-kit works. What each piece looks like, how it works, how it responds and how it plays with the other pieces.

Of course, rules are there to be broken in art, but it’s really useful getting to know the basics of the rules I reckon.

…and playing a kit is really good fun too!

#8

The thing about drum theory is, it is all predicated on learning how to physically play all note divisions, at all tempos, with four limb indipendance, or even more (fingers) if doing percussion. Then you learn dynamics, soft, hard, and harder. All rudiments are simply an excercise to develop muscle memory and to train the brain to play what you imagine.

A sequencer makes all of that redundant. Because it does all the hard work for you, all you have to do is enter the notes. You dont need to be able to play anything, or even know what anything means. A good set of ears is all you need. If it sounds good, it is good.

If you know what a quarter note is (4/4 techno kick pattern.) Then you can extrapolate the rest from there. Also, the tresillo is well worth reading about.

Good luck, have fun.

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#9

As a guitar player who is self taught and learns to play things “by ear”, I can say that when I got into making electronic music the process of programming or finger drumming was still a major learning curve. It took me quite a while to come to grips with the functionality of each piece of a drum kit and how important ghost notes were. It took me like 3 years to deconstruct the amen break. Your sequencer may have microtiming and velocity but if you don’t understand how it functions to create a groove and feel then youre just sort of going all Jackson Pollock with it. If you use the method of listening and deconstructing what you hear I recommend slowing down the audio to let the individual placement of drum parts within the grooves really sink in, I dunno if you’re an aphex twin fan but if you listen to some of the jungle type druqks tracks at a slower speed and realize how groovy they actually are you can get a good feel for how to effectively program drums.

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#10

Say I can borrow a Nord 3P. How’s close is that too a real drum set? I could even possibly get a kick pedal for it.

#11

The most practical approach is to look up drum rudiments. Rudiments are a description of all the basic patterns used by drummers.
Learn them all and you have all the basics down. Learning you can do on a real drumkit, or by programming or by using two spoons on your favorite table….

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#12

feels like YouTube recommendations algorithm was reading my mind. This was on the top of my feed https://youtu.be/j9kjLeJCAJk

#13

This is good:

https://www.attackmagazine.com/technique/beat-dissected/

and also:

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#14

If you are interested in breakbeats, this is a great resource. It breaks down lots of famous drum breaks. You learn to read drum notation, which is actually not that hard so nothing to be concerned about. Highly recommended.

https://www.mikeadamo.com/the-breakbeat-bible

This app is also really good.

I think those two would complement each other well.

One more recommendation for reading and internalizing rhythms. (You tap along to it and it scores you).

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#15

This. It’s how I was taught as a kid when I first started. Like any instrument you need to learn to crawl before you walk then run. Copying other beats will get you so far but it’s still just that, copying.

We learned from a Buddy Rich rudiments book with two sticks and a rubber pad and didn’t get near a kit for the first year. Those lesson learned never leave you and those simple rudiments inform everything you do after that, whether that be programming drums or any other percussive/syncopated instrument parts. Good drum programming isn’t just about the drum parts imo, it’s about how all the different parts mesh together down to the (micro)step level so some of those rudiments can be applied to other parts too

#16

One way to “study” is to loop a sample; drum break that you like and program your own identical version of it. What your find in many cases is the timing is not exactly quantized. Revers engineering is a great way to learn music theory in a musical way.

#17

He’s such electronic drum break master.
Would love to hear him breakdown how he goes about programming his breaks.
I used to think a lot of it was random generative kind of techniques.
Over the years making drum patterns, I start to think he’s probably very deliberate with each hit.
It’s so complex though, and makes me wonder how he develops that.

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#18

I bought a book geared towards daw users with many breaks and fills. I programmed like 50+ into my digitakt and the patterns emerged. I’m not sure if I’m good or not but I’m usually not completely disappointed by my percs. I’d love to get this type of boost for my synth lines…

#19

This thread is pretty good.
Definitely insightful on drum programming.

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#20

I saw Shigeto perform live once and he was drumming live along side his own tracks.

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